Mixing devices, in particular mixing devices for mixing components of medical products such as bone cement, for example, are known.
In a two-component system, two substances, in particular a liquid and a solid, are mixed together before being used, can be processed for a short period of time and will then cure.
In the medical field, in particular mixing devices for methyl methacrylate-based bone cement are known. Usually, a PMMA powder is mixed with a monomer component so that a curable paste is prepared. This paste is usually processed very well and is in particular used for cementing prostheses.
German patent DE 10 2009 013 211 B4 discloses such a generic mixing device.
In this embodiment variant of a bone cement mixer, the monomer component is disposed on a handle of the mixing system. Before use, a monomer vial is pressed onto a needle. Due to a gas volume present in the monomer vial and due to a vacuum applied to the mixing chamber, the monomer flows into the mixing chamber.
Such a closed system is simple in design and safe in handling.
A drawback thereof is that highly volatile monomer components such as methyl methacrylate are only allowed to be transported in relatively small packages, depending on the applicable legal situation. In the case of the initially mentioned mixing device this might for some applications undesirably limit the quantity that can be mixed using the mixing device.
Furthermore, the aforementioned system is only configured for mixing together a liquid component and a solid component. The system is not intended for mixing two monomer components each one contained in a respective vial, which may moreover comprise a different liquid.